Aershaa
Overview Aershaa are one of the 4 sentient species of''' Dreyrull, distinguished by their canine-like forms, long ears, and often, the wings upon their back. Like many species of Dreyrull, they are [[magic|'''magic]] users, save for the aptly named [[Barren (aershaa race)|'Barren']] race, weilding elements respective to their individual race names. Though vocal and sentient, speaking a heavily accented form of English due to the origins of their creation, aershaa are still very much a wild species like their ancestral long-eared canine counterparts, the [[Aeren|'Aeren']]. They have many of the natural instincts and habits of the OId Earthen wolf, including territory marking by urination and scratching, body language based expressionism, and holding a pecking order within packs. 'Origins' In the human year 126 AS (After Settlement), 5 years after his successful completion of the first 3 furr 'races, 'Frederick Arla '''sought to create the ultimate soldier's companion from the native aeren. Arla's idea was to create an airborne army that held strengths over any terrain, sea, sky, or sand. In his years of study and research on the native dragons of what man came to call Terrak, he came to discover how a species could be both dense-boned, thickly-muscled, and flighted. By fusing the aeren DNA with that of the dragons', with small amounts of his own added in for intelligence and command of language, he creatted the first airla, later to call itself an aershaa', a proto-dark named [[Khan (proto-airla)|'Khan']] for the great Genghis Khan of ancient Earth's history. Due to Khan's instability and ferocious, rebellious temper, he was cast aside as a failed experiment and labeled a proto-airla, used from then on out as a test subject and a control for modifications made to later airla. Athena, later to be renamed S'feena in the aershaa creation legend, was what arla considered the first successful airla. 'Behaviorism' Each and every aershaa is an individual. Think of them as your own personal blank slate - you can do whatever you want to with them in terms of how they DECIDE to act. But consider their upbringing - specifically the upbringing of each type of aershaa, but also of the standard laws of the aershaa world. Here are a few to think about, and remember - play around. Be original. Dare to be that aershaa that looks another straight in the eye. 'Greeting' Aershaa greet each other by raising tailblades and, like typical canines, taking in each other's scents. They will not make eye contact unless they intend to challenge the other. Eyes are usually on the tailblade, on the general form of the aershaa (say, the chest, the cheek, the brow), or if submissive, off to the side. When on the tailblade, it's a sign of respect for the other's strength and ability. 'Territory' Aershaa packs mark large territories for themselves, spanning as far as 50 sq miles. Unlike wolves of old Earth, crossing into other pack's territories is not taboo, as long as the alphas of the territory are greeted with respect. It's ONLY taboo if the aershaa trespassing are of an enemy pack or an opposing religious belief. 'Hierarchy' Aershaa are pack animals. Much like wolves, they have an 'alpha pair, a beta, scouts, and an omega, along with a team of [[Fierce (pack rank)|'''fierce]] to defend them. 'Mating Rituals' Aershaa typically mate in early spring. They find mates in many ways - some find their mates much like humanoids do, by simple growing of affection. The aershaa who do not have this natural connection to someone will display feats of strength and magic to win over their mate (typically the males). For barren and light aershaa, whom breed naturally, their gestation period is about 6 months. 'Elders' Aershaa have a deep respect for elders, no matter their race. If an elder does not want to answer a question, there will be no fighting about it. If they wish to speak, they will be heard. Unless proven insane, elders' wisdom is not question, for they hold the experience that other aershaa do not. Elders themselves are unique by each, but tend to be wise and knowledgeable. 'Pups' Pups are the future of the pack, and so are put first in terms of protection and teachings. A vital part of a pup's raising is storytelling and teachings of the elders. Pups themselves are like any child - playful, energetic, and adventurous. 'Food' Aershaa hunt like Old Earthen wolves: they hunt big game as a team. Lone aershaa will hunt small game. When a pack has an expecting mother or pups, they are fed first, before the pack feasts. 'Daily Life' Aershaa go about their days going through their type-rituals, play fighting, and howling. Aershaa are highly known for their curiosity and their tendency to travel, and don't tend to sit still for long periods of time. 'Language' Aershaa communicate in either English (known here as "the common tongue,) or Yaooee, which is a language consisting of gestures and what to the un-trained ear sounds like ordinary howling, but in truth is a language of long vowel sounds and short, quick consonants. Yaooee, unlike the common tongue, can be used over great distances to send messages of urgency or warning. Their English is much the same as humans' and furrs', other than dialect and terminology, however it is thickly accented, as they create many sounds that would typically require lips through other means. 'Mating' Mating occurs in two ways amongst aershaa, depending on their lineage.' '[[Barren (aershaa race)|'Barren']], due to their fusion with man's dogs, have re-adapted "nature's" way of copulation. This limits them to breeding with their own race or with Lights, 'whom, being one of the first races of aershaa to be created, have both the capability to breed naturally, or by 'souldancing. 'Souldancing is an act of mating using a biology very specific to Dreyrull that weaves two types of "creational energy" from a male and female aershaa, and comes from the native [[dragon|'dragons ']] of Dreyrull's means of reproduction. 'Physiology 'Ears' Size, shape, and build vary from race to race, but a constant in aershaa is always the ears. Aershaa ears, on most races, are about 1 1/2 times the length from the back of an aershaa's head to the tip of its snout. They sit slanting backwards on the head. This was specially bred in aershaa by man to avoid damage during flight and battle: no bugs in the ears, and less likely to be caught by a passing claw, arrow, or bullet. Their ancestors, the aeren, had similar ears, but typically held them up and forward. It doesn't make them any less useful, as they're cupped just enough to still catch sounds from the front clearer than any other creature on Dreyrull. They never stand forward: it's a bit of an illusion on certs, as happens in 2 dimensional imagery sometimes. They're not perfectly bent backwards, and so they're seen in perspective. The (poorly, poorly drawn) diagram to the left shows exactly how they swivel - like a lever, up and down at differing angles. The top two figures show how they sit naturally: tilted slightly upwards and a hair forwards, but sitting back on the head as they should. 'Flight' The gravity on Dreyrull is surprisingly not as strong as Earth's. No, nothing's going to come flying lose and float off into space. It's just slightly less - just enough to make the first humans that landed here go, AWESOME. I CAN RUN REALLY EFFING FAST, and promptly run straight into the nearest tree, booking a good 40mph. Everyone's quite a bit faster here, which makes travel a lot easier, and flight a lot less hindering. But gravity alone isn't enough. Let me introduce the trace-element levistone, which has about 40 different equally-as-uncreative names. Levistone is the very element that keeps the islands afloat in Listhrea, but it can be found throughout Dreyrull, even in the coldest of regions in small, trace amounts, packed down into the dirt and collected inside plantlife. Aershaa have a special chemical in their system that enhances the natural lifting ability of the stone that's far, far beyond Earth's science of today. It's some seriously powerful stuff when handled properly, and many furrs - especially the Mozu - make use of levistone's gravity-defying properties. But only the aershaa can use such a small amount to generate so much lift. But they need to eat, as all of us do, and on the other hand, cannot go like Earth's wolves for weeks without food and still plan on flying. Levistone, as it is found in everything, is collected from the bodies of prey, whom collect it (unaffected) from the sweet greens they snack upon... or vicious, beast-eating dreyworms. So how do aershaa fly? With rocks. Lots of tiny, microscopic, awesome rocks. 'Tails & Tailblades' Aershaa are infused with something called biosteel, an element found within the skeletal structure of dragons resembling the properties of stainless steel, but able to grow and heal like bone. This being said, biosteel manifests itself as tailblades in the aershaa race and on many species of dragon. To compensate for the extra weight of biosteel, as well as utilize it properly, aershaa tails are muscular, thickly-boned, and able to turn about 270 degrees, give or take. 'Growth & Aging' ''Looking for info on how to grow your aershaa? You'll want to head on over to the Growing Your Aershaa page. 'Normal Aershaa' ''*'Health and physical condition depending. Healthy aershaa aren't considered elders until they're well into their 30s. 'Draians' *Often referred to as a pup until in their teens. 'Lights' Races There are (soon to be) 10 races of aershaa all-together. [[Fire (aershaa race)|'Fire']] Fires are traditionally sunborn, from the age when most aershaa were of the safikhan belief. They were one of the 7 original aershaa races. This race is known for it's physical strength for its size and precision with its tailblade. However, they are short-flighted, flying more like a songbird than like a hawk, and their lack of tailfeathers make their flights short and precise. It is rare that a fire can fly overseas. Their ears are plush, and they have manes like an Old Earthen lion, and only a single tailblade at the end of their tails. Out of character, their templates are based on wolves. [[Water (aershaa race)|'Water']] Waters are traditionally sunborn, from the age when most aershaa were of the safikhan belief. They were one of the 7 original aershaa races. These aershaa are as small as the average old-earthen dog, and are the only race of aershaa to have no fur. They have the eyes of their ancestors, which utilize bioluminescense and inner reflection instead of a more familiar pupil. Unshifted waters are uncapable of flight, but utilize their wings for strong, fast swimming, aided by the flexible blade that run from middle-back to tailtip that acts as a rudder. Out of character, their templates are based on greyhounds. [[Air (aershaa race)|'Air']] Airs are traditionally sunborn, from the age when most aershaa were of the safikhan belief. They were one of the 7 original aershaa races. Known for dexterity and immense skill for flight, no aershaa can fly further, higher, or more silently than the sky-loving airs. They are lithe and tall, but aptly furred to protect themselves from the cold air_example.png|Air ♂ Dark example.png|Dark ♂ barren_example.png|Barren ♂ draian_example.png|Draian ♂ fire_example.png|Fire ♀ ice_example.png|Ice ♂ light_example.png|Light ♂ stone_example.png|Stone ♀ water_example.png|Water ♀ of extreme heights. In their original creation, a mistake in Arla's sequence caused the feathers from their wings to likewise grow on their heads in a thick mane, and was kept for its aesthetic appeal, even though the mane served no purpose. Unlike fires, airs do have the tailfeathers that aid them in flight, as well as a set of 7 blades fanned out on their tails that supposedly assist them in the air.Out of character, their templates are based on border collies. [[Dark (aershaa race)|'Dark']] Darks are traditionally moonborn, from the age when most aershaa were of the safikhan belief. They were one of the 7 original aershaa races. Darks have carved themselves a bad name through their ferocity and generally unpleasent natures, only enhanced by their menacing appearance. Their teeth are overly long, making a bite to the throat immediately deadly, and their form is small, but muscular. Holding the bat-like wings of their ancestors, darks come second after airs for their capabilities in flight and distance they can travel by air. The blades on their elbows are of little use unless the aershaa has particularly trained themselves to weild them, and were an error in their original design that failed to be removed without causing other problems in the design. Protection from these blades, instead, was developed by a thick hide on their flanks that is not easily punctured or scraped. Out of character, their templates are based on dobermans. [[Ice (aershaa race)|'Ice']] Ices are traditionally moonborn, from the age when most aershaa were of the safikhan belief. They were one of the 7 original aershaa races. Ice are known for their immense size and prized by man as shields and, when altered, mounts. Holding no wings, they instead have spikes that near double their height and frightening appearance, and a bone thickness and density to support these that no wings could ever hope to carry. Ices are more solitary than most aershaa races, and are the least likely to be found in packs, with only one or two ice packs known to exist at this point in time. This unfortunately means that ices are also the most endangered of the aershaa races, easily picked off with their slow, lumbering natures and the lack of protection around them for both their warm, valuable pelts and their worth as mounts. Despite their menacing appearance, ices are far milder than stones and darks in their temperament, which makes them far less of a threat to a hunter that knows what he's doing. Out of character, their templates are based on afghan hounds. [[Stone (aershaa race)|'Stone']] Stones are traditionally moonborn, from the age when most aershaa were of the safikhan belief. They were one of the 7 original aershaa races. These aershaa are the second largest in the world, and can be one of the feircest. Priding themselves in their brute strength and seeking glory in battle, stone territories are well avoided by aer and furrkind alike. Their wings, though thick and massive, do not carry them far, and sit them on the same flight-strength level as the fires: in their case, however, flying over an ocean is not possible. The stones on their shoulders, face, and tails are made of biostone, a later experiment of Arla's with a density thicker than bone. Out of character, their templates are based on bernese mountain dogs. 'Light ' Lights are traditionally sunborn, but over time became dreyborn, from the age when most aershaa were of the safikhan belief. They were one of the 7 original aershaa races. Light aershaa are the most unique aershaa race in the world for multiple reasons. Holding the ability to shapeshift, lights take on many shapes and sizes, and it is rare that any two look alike. They age extremely slowly, allowing them to live up to 1,000 cycles before passing away, granted illness or injury doesn't get a hold of them first. Physically, before shifting, they are lean and feather-winged, built for speed and gentle flight, their wings larger than those of a fire and thus allowing them to fly over greater distances. Out of character, their templates are based on salukis. 'Draian' Draians are traditionally dreyborn, from the age when most aershaa were of the safikhan belief. Draians are a result of an ancient, forgotten group of aershaa whom believed that air and stone united would re-unite the world and bring peace between Khan and S'feena. The initial packs consisted of airs paired with stones, and over time airstone and stoneair mixes danced with one another generation after generation, until discovering that the mix triggered a genetic defect in size, cutting their height down to less than a quarter of its original glory. Likewise, the double-paw defect known on Old Earth in cats arose, and gradually became usable as thumbs. Thus the draians were born, living in a secluded society much different from that of a typical aershaa and living cycles far longer than their ancestors. After separating themselves from the rest of the Drey, they intermingled and developed amongst furrkind, adapting much of their cultures and ways. even now that they've re-united themselves with the rest of the aershaa race, they stand out from the rest, and so often stick to their own kind yet still.'' Out of character, their templates are based on golden retriever puppies.'' 'Barren ' Barren are traditionally dreyborn, from the age when most aershaa were of the safikhan belief. Barren were a furr-aided, man-bred recreation of the aershaa race, designed to be more ideal as house pets and home guardians. They are a mixture of fire, ice, water, and dog genes, manipulated through rare fusion magics taboo in the free furr culture. The ability to souldance was stripped from them, as well as the magics that aershaa are so well known for, making them as close to a dog as any aershaa race can get. Wingless and thickly built with long, thin fur, these aershaa need careful grooming in captivity, and in the wild are at severe risk of matting when living outside of a pack community. Out of character, their templates are based on collies. 'Storm ' Storm are a man-bred race of aershaa still in the breeding process, said to be a selective mixture of air and dark with a dog-sized physique. No further information has been released about this race as of yet. Planned release: December 2011. 'Types' On top of their races, aershaa come in many varieties and types. 'Normal' : An aershaa as it is intended to be as a pure-blooded race. 'Mizpup' : A mix of 2-3 aershaa races. 'Baneblood' : An out-of-use term for an aershaa comprised of sunborn and moonborn blood. This is strictly used amongst those of the safikhan religion and is considered an archaic, though insulting, term. 'Bloodmutt' : The result of two mixed parents of 6 races between them. (For example, airdark-stone x waterlight-fire). These are exceedingly rare, and tend to take on entirely new traits due to the heavy mixing. These are, likewise, the only aershaa able to master more than one element. Bloodmutts are loathed by those of safikhan backgrounds. 'Impure' : An aershaa who shows other lineage only by the difference in the color of their coat. 'Wingless' : Self explanatory, wingless aershaa are aershaa of a race that typically have wings, but are born without. This is the most common genetic mutation amongst aerkind, likely because their ancestors were not meant to have wings. 'Oddity' : Every race has defects and variations, either intended in their original creation or an unfortunate flaw. Amongst others of aerkind, these are called "oddities," ranging from something as simple as extra feathers to something as extravagant as fins on a water. Shifted : Either a light aershaa who has shapeshifted their own form, or a water aershaa who has been shifted by the native korogo of Listhrea for flighted wings. 'Altered' : An aershaa altered by man or furr either in captivity or in the wild; An aershaa with a change made by force rather than by nature. 'Deformed' : An aershaa with a birth defect, crippling or non. 'Mutant ' : An aershaa born in, or exceedingly exposed to Khan's Bane in the underdrey. Mutants have serious deformities, most often inhibiting their daily life, and have particularly poor eyesight above ground. 'Undead ' : An aershaa baring the curse of the undead: unsightly, feared, and cursed to walk the Drey for all eternity, or until their curse is willingly taken by another. 'Class' A class is, simply, an aershaa's position in the world. There are 4 aershaa classes. 'Wild' : A wild aershaa is wild and free. Though they may be bonded, they are unowned by any man or furr and free to do what they will ith their lives. 'Tame ' : A tame aershaa has been tamed by the hand of man. They may be brainwashed to be man-loyal, or have been tamed by more traditional methods of pain, fear, and/or reward. 'Reverted' : A reverted aershaa has returned to the wild after once being tamed. Typically, they have escaped through one means or another. The differences between a reverted and a wild aershaa vary in the language they use, skills in hunting, knowledge of the world, and often, reverted aershaa still have collars and alterations man has made. 'Bladehunter ' : A bladehunter is a step above tame. They will never become reverted and are eternally man-loyal through a perfected means of mind-washing. Bladehunters are a specific organization in control of the capture and killing of wild aershaa, an order funded by the current human king in hopes of removing aershaa from the wild and returning them to "their proper place." Category:playable species Category:creatures Category:aershaa